Unemployment: Personal Circle

The unemployment rate reported on Friday is the worst it’s been since 1983. That’s an interesting statistic for me personally, since 1983 was the year that I graduated from college. So, we’re just now hitting the type of market that I graduated into – that’s helpful for me to gauge how I can help.

In the next couple of blog postings I’ll talk about what I did given the market, those long years ago, and what it might mean for all of us job hunting today. In the meantime, I thought it might be worthwhile to talk a little about my work history.

As I said, I graduated from college in 1983. I’ve pursued 9 successful job searches since then. According to census reports, that is about average (typical is about 10 job changes, some of which are internal, in the first 15 years of an American’s career). Here are a few observations:

Only 1 Not By Choice: I was laid off once, a year after the company I worked for was acquired by another. They were clearing house of most of the management of the acquired company, and I was on the list. When everything was over, I was not unhappy about the action, but even so it took me a little time to get my job search in gear.

Networking: I found 4 of the 9 jobs through networking. In two of the opportunities, the company was not really looking for anyone, but after I talked to the company heads, explained what I could do, they hired me. The other two opportunities were jobs that the company wanted to fill, but I got into the process earlier than most, and it wasn’t really a contest. These were the most fun job searches, in part because I knew much more about what was going on—I wasn’t just a piece of paper or a name.

Using Job Ads: I actually found 2 opportunities through job ads – one of those was an online BBS in 1985. There were no internet job boards in 1985. But, both of these were technical jobs (much easier to reduce to paper requirements), and both during a better market than we are currently facing.

Career Center: I found my job after business school through on-campus interviews set up by the career center.

Walk-in: I worked in a factory just after college (one way I handled the fact that I didn’t know what I wanted to do in a difficult hiring market). I got that job by walking in, telling the foreman that I could do the job, and being a little lucky. But luck came in part because I was persistent: I came by and visited the foreman for a couple of weeks before he hired me. I was there at the right time in part because I was talking to him and getting the information I needed to be successful.

Entrepreneurship: My last job search I ended by creating the company and position. This job is the most fun, and most rewarding. Thanks for letting me help you.